Shuttleless loom provided with weft thread storing means



June 18, 1968 TOEMON SAKAMOTO 3,388,722

SHUTTLELESS LOOM PROVIDED WITH WEFT THREAD STORING MEANS Filed March 4, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 n k .44 44 2 J76 z z 59 52;: m jl gag/J "55 64 5; '5 J f5 2 4/ J o 47 52 55 s 5/ W 59 P 52 53 50 55 54 3 June 18, 1968 TOEMON SAKAMOTO 3,388,722

SHUTTLELESS LOOM PROVIDED WITH WEFT THREAD STORING MEANS Filed March 4, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 a m 4 4 4? 57 a; 0

F4 5 97 H 59 awww 42 g! 8 United States Patent SHUTTLELESS LOOM PROVIDED WITH WEFT THREAD STORING MEANS Toemon Sakamoto, 299 Hirosawa-cho, Shizualra-ken, Hamamatsu-shi, Japan Filed Mar. 4, 1966, Ser. No. 531,931 Claims priority, application Japan, Mar. 11, 1965, 40/ 14,326 Claims. (Cl. 139125) ABSTRACT OF THE DISfILOSURE A shuttleless loom of a type wherein a weft thread carrying bullet is shot through the shed forming area of the loom. Means which is disposed at one side of the shed forming area and operable before a shed is formed, is adapted to temporarily store a weft thread that has been drawn up from a cone and projected by a first blast of air through an axial bore provided in a bullet. Upon the forming of a shed, a second blast of air is employed to shoot the bullet through the shed; the weft thread being carried through the shed by means of sliding frictional contact between the bullet and the thread.

This invention relates to a shuttleless loom wherein the weft thread is carried through the shed by a blast of air and more particularly to a loom of this type which is provided with a device for temporarily storing the weft thread that has been paid out of a cone until it is projected through the shed.

There is known a loom in which a projectile or bullet which grips the forward end of the weft thread to be projected through the shed is shot through the shed across the loom, thereby causing the thread to be carried by the bullet through the shed. The arrangement, however, has the disadvantages that it is necessary for each bullet to be provided with means for gripping the forward end of the weft thread to be inserted in the shed, and that it is troublesome to dispose of the tip end of the thread remaining attached to the bullet after the thread was cut off from the bullet upon completion of its flight through the shed.

In order to overcome the above disadvantages, a loom has been proposed wherein a predetermined length of weft thread supplied from a cone is first inserted through the thorough axial bore of a bullet by a blast of compressed air, and then the bullet is shot through the shed carrying the weft thread along with it through the shed, without gripping the thread but by means of sliding frictional contact between the bullet and the thread. The loom requires two fundamental steps of operation: The first is to insert a predetermined length of weft thread fed from the cone through the bullet by a first blast of air; and the second is to shoot the bullet through the shed by a second blast of air. Compared with the above-mentioned type of loom in which the weft thread is gripped by the bullet, this latter arrangement has the advantage that it requires neither any weft thread gripping means of the bullet nor any means for disposing of the tip end of the weft thread remaining attached to the bullet. A difiiculty, however, has been encountered. In the case of weaving broadcloth, for example, a considerable length of weft thread has to be drawn out of the cone in the first step of operation, which requires too long a time for both the first and the second step of operation to be completed within the limited period of time during which the shed is open, especially in case the loom is to be run at a high speed.

The primary object of the invention is, therefore, to provide a shuttleless loom which is provided with means disposed at one side of the shed for temporarily storing "ice the weft thread that has been drawn out from a cone and projecting forwardly through a bullet until the shed is opened and the bullet is shot therethrough, carrying the thread along with it. In accordance with the invention, the projection of a predetermined length of weft thread in the first step of operation can be performed regardless of the time of opening the shed. In other words, it is possible to begin the initial projection of the weft thread through the bullet quite a time before the shed is opened. This makes it possible to prepare as great a length of weft thread as is required for broad-cloth beforehand and then shoot the bullet carrying the thread through the shed the moment it is opened. Since the period of time during which the shed is open is to be occupied only by the second step of operation, that is, shooting the bullet through the shed, the loom can be run at a higher speed.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view, partly in vertical section, of the weft thread filling device of a shuttleless loom to which the invention is applied;

FIG. 2 is a vertical section taken on the line A-A of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of one form of the projected weft thread storing means, as viewed from the line BB of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are schematic drawings illustrating the operation of the weft thread storing means;

FIG. 6 is a front view of another form of the weft thread storing means;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 7 but showing a modified form of the weft thread storing device.

Referring now to the drawings, first to FIG. 1, there is shown a weft thread filling device of a shuttleless loom to which the invention is applied. The weft thread filling device is of a pneumatic type and comprises a valve box 10 tightly closed by a valve lid 11 to define a chamber 12 therein. The lid 11 is interiorly formed with a valve seat 13 to which a valve 14 is normally urged by a spring 15 to close a valve port 16. The valve 14 is formed with a thorough axial bore 14' and provided with a valve rod 17 which has a thorough axial bore 17' in alignment and communication with the axial bore 14'. The valve rod 17 projects through the valve box 10 rearwardly thereof to be connected to a fitting 18 which is in turn connected to a valve operating mechanism to be described hereinafter. The fitting 18 is formed with an axial bore 18' connected at one end thereof to the axial bore 17' of the valve rod 17 in alignment therewith. In the valve box 10 there is formed another chamber 19 separated from the chamber 12 by a valve 20 which is normally urged by a spring 21 to be seated on a valve seat 22. The valve 20 is also provided with a rod 23 projecting through the valve box 10 rearwardly thereof to be connected to the valve operating mechanism.

Compressed air is supplied to the chamber 12 through a flexible tube 24 connected to a suitable air compressor, not shown. The chamber 19 is provided with an outlet port 25 which is connected through a flexible tube 26 to a lateral inlet bore 27 formed in the fitting 18 and communicating with the axial bore 18' thereof. The weft thread 28 fed from a cone 29 passes through a weft thread measuring device of any known type, schematically shown as at 30, to enter a thinner axial bore 31 formed in the rear portion of the fitting 18 in alignment and communication with the axial bore 18' thereof. The inlet bore 27 functions as a jet nozzle, so that when compressed air is supplied through the flexible tube 26 in a manner to be described hereinafter, the air is jetted into the axial bore 17' of the valve rod 17 to thereby carry the weft thread therethrough to be projected out of the forward end of the axial bore 14' of the valve 14.

The valve operating mechanism includes a pair of levers 32 and 33 which are pivoted at the lower ends thereof to a frame of the loom (not shown) as at 32' and 33, and at the upper ends thereof bifurcated to engage with pins 34 and 35 rigidly mounted on the fitting 18 and the valve rod 23, respectively. The levers 32 and 33 are connected by a spring 36 for roller followers 37 and 38 mounted on the levers to be borne against earns 32 and 4h rigidly mounted on a shaft 41 driven by a main shaft (not shown) of the machine. Upon rotation of the earns, the levers 32 and 33 reciprocate their respective rocking movement on the pivots 32' and 33' to thereby open and close the valves 14 and 20, respectively, in a manner to be described hereinafter.

A bullet shooting pipe 42 is rigidly connected at its rear end 42' to the valve lid 11 in axial alignment with the valve 14, valve rod 17 and fitting 18. The forward end of the shooting pipe 42 is open towards the shed. Above the rear end 42 of the pipe 42 there is provided a container 43 for storing bullets 44 each having a thorough axial bore 44' which are supplied one after another into the shooting pipe 42. To this end, as most clearly shown in FIG. 2, the upwardly facing portion of the circumferential wall of the pipe rear end 42', which is just below the lower exit opening of the container 43, is cut away to permit passage of bullets 44 downwardly into pipe 42. Such passage is normally prevented by a pair of curved doors 45 and 45' which are carried on the top ends of a pair of levers 46 and 47, respectively. Levers 46 and 47 are shown in FIGURES l and 2 as being pivotally supported, as at 48, and provided at the lower ends thereof with slots 46', 47' in which one end of an operating lever 49 is slidahly received. Lever 49 is pivoted at 50 and at its opposite end urged by a spring 51 against a third cam 52 rigidly mounted on shaft 41. Upon rotation of the cam 52, the lever 49 is forced to pivot in such a manner that the end thereof, as viewed in FIGURE 2, is forced to slide upwardly within slots 46, 47' from the positions shown in full line to that shown in phantom. Consequently, levers 4d, 47 are pivoted to move doors 45 and 45' simultaneously to the open position indicated in phantom in FIGURE 2, to permit a bullet to drop between the open doors into the shooting pipe 42. Upon further rotation of cam 52, levers 46, 47 are returned to the full line position illustrated in FIGURE 2, so as to close doors 45, 45' and confine the bullet within the shooting pipe rear end 42. Bullet 44 is held in position adjacent pipe rear end 42' by a stopper rod 53 which has its upper end transversely inserted into the pipe 42 and its lower end linked with one end of a lever 54. The lever is pivoted at 50 and urged by a spring 55 for the opposite end thereof to contact a fourth cam 56 on the shaft 41. The cam 56 is of such a contour that while the valve 20 is open, the stopper 53 is inserted into the shooting pipe 42 to stop the bullet there, and that when the valve 14 is opened, the stopper rod is retracted to permit the bullet to be shot through the pipe 42.

Upon rotation of the shaft 41, first the cam 41) moves the lever 33 clockwise to open the valve 20, whereupon compressed air is introduced into the chamber 19 whence the air passes through the outlet port 25, flexible tube 26 and inlet bore 27 of the fitting 18 to be jetted into the axial bore 18' thereof, whereupon the air carries the weft thread introduced through the bore 31 along with it through the axial bores 17' and 14' of the valve rod 17 and the valve 14 to be projected forwardlythrough the axial bore 44 of the bullet, now stopped by the stopper 53, and then through the shooting pipe 42.

The characteristic of the invention lies in the provision of a weft thread retaining or storing device disposed between the forward end of the shooting pipe 42 and the shed for storing the projected weft thread therein temporarily until the bullet is shot through the shed, carrying the thread with it.

In FIG. 1 through 5, the weft thread storing device comprises a pipe 57 having open opposite ends and. disposed transversely of the axis of the shooting pipe 42. The pipe 57 is at its one end telescopically and slidably inserted into one end of a guide pipe 58 supported on the frame of the machine. The opposite open end of the pipe 57 is so bent that it is brought into registry with the forward open end of the shooting pipe 42. For transverse and telescopic movement of the pipe 57, a lever 59 has its lower end pivoted to the frame of the machine as at 59 and its upper end bifurcated to engage a pin 60 fixed to the pipe 57; and a spring 61 urges a roller follower 62 on the lever 59 against a cam 63 mounted on a shaft 64. The shaft 64 and consequently the cam 63 is rotated by means of a pair of bevel gears 65 and 66, which latter is mounted on the shaft 41 for rotation therewith. The

contour of the cam 63 is such that upon rotation of the shaft 41 and consequently the cam 63, the lever 59 rocks in opposite directions to reciprocate the storing pipe 57 transversely of the axis of the shooting pipe 42, thereby bringing the bent open end of the pipe 57 into and out of registry with the forward open end of the pipe 42.

With the storing pipe positioned as shown in FIG. 5, rotation of the shaft 41 first causes the cam 40 to move the lever 33clockwise to open the valve 20 against the force of the spring 21, so that compressed air is blown into the axial bore 18 of the fitting 18, as previously mentioned. The weft thread is thereby carried through the axial bores 31, 18', 17, 14' and 44' and then projected through pipe 42. However, since the weft thread storing pipe 57 covers the outer open end of the pipe 42, the projected weft thread is thrown into the storing pipes 57 and 58 to be temporarily stored therein, with the compressed air blowing therethrough to the outside from the rear open end of the pipe 58. A suction may be applied to the rear open end of the pipe 58 by any suitable means, such as fan 100, in order to help increase the efficiency of the first blast of air. Pipe 58 may be directly coupled to fan 10% and adapted to slidably receive pipe 57 to permit movement of the latter. Alternatively, pipe 57 may be affixed to pipe 58, and pipe 58 connected to fan by a flexible tubing, as indicated generally in FIGURE 3. The length of the weft thread that has thus been projected through the pipe 42 in the first step of operation may be part or all of the measured length. Further rotation of the shaft 41 causes the cam 40 to permit the valve 20 to be again seated on the valve seat 22 by the spring 21 to close the chamber 19; the cam 63 to remove the weft thread storing pipe 57 from the open end of the shooting pipe 42; the cam 39 to open the valve 14 against the force of the spring 15; and the cam 56 to allow the spring 55 to retract the stopper 53 out of the way of the bullet 44. When the valve 14 has thus been opened, compressed air hits against the rear end face of the bullet 44 to shoot the same, upon retraction of the stopper 53, through the pipe 42 and then through the shed across the loom. As the bullet flies, the weft thread stored in the pipes 57 and 58 is drawn out therefrom by the flying bullet due to sliding frictional contact between the thread and the bullet, as shown in FIG. 5, and if the stored length of thread is shorter than the width of the cloth, the required additional length of thread is simultaneously drawn out from the cone 29 by the bullet. In the right-hand side portions of FIGS. 4 and 5, there are schematically shown warp threads 68, weft threads 69 that have already been beaten into the cloth and a lay beam 70.

When the required length of weft thread has thus been inserted into the shed and beaten into the cloth, the rear end of the thread is cut by suitable shears (not shown) provided adjacent the forward end of the shooting pipe 42, and the weft thread remaining inside the pipe 42 is retracted by the measuring device 30, including feed rollers and a tensioning device 30". It will be undefstood that retraction of the weft thread is performed by tensioning device 30" immediately after severing of the thread. When cut, the leading end of the weft thread is retracted from pipe 42 backwardly into bore 14' of valve 14. Any well known cutting means and tensioning device, such as are disclosed in US Patents 2,902,058 and 2,589,429, respectively, may be employed in the practice of the present invention. The valve 14 has now been closed. The bullet 44 that has completed its flight through the shed is received by a suitable means (not shown) at the opposite side of the loom and is returned by a suitable conveyor means (not shown) into the container 43 to be used again. Thus one cycle of operation has been completed and will be followed by another.

Another form of the weft thread storing device is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, wherein a sector 71 is provided at its peripheral portion with a net 72 and is mounted on a shaft 73 which has a gear 74 meshing with a gear 75 mounted on the shaft 64. The net 72 is convex towards the shed and has a width sufiicient to cover the forward open end of the shooting pipe 42. It will be easily seen that upon rotation of the shaft 64, the sector 71 is rotated so that the net 72 covers the open end of the shootpipe 42 to catch and temporarily store therein the weft thread projected through the pipe 42 in the first step of operation. Instead of being rotated, the sector 71 may be so arranged as to rock in opposite directions for the net 72 to alternately cover and uncover the forward open end of the shooting pipe 42. This modified embodiment is illustrated in FIGURE 8, wherein sector 71 is modified by providing an arm 71 having adjacent one end thereof a roller 76, which is biased into engagement with cam 77 by a suitable spring 78. From viewing FIGURE 8, it will be apparent that upon driven rotation of the cam 77 by shaft 64 from the position shown, spring 78 functions to withdraw net 72 from in front pipe 42, as indicated by arrow 79. The arrangement here is such that while the weft thread is being projected by the first blast of air, the net 72 covers the open end of the pipe 42 to catch and hold the thread therein, with the compressed air that has carried the thread blowing through the net 72, and that when the shed is opened, the net is removed from the forward end of the pipe 42 to permit the bullet to fiy through the shed, carrying the weft thread along with it.

Some preferred embodiments of the invention having been illustrated and described, it should be recognized that there are many other modifications and changes thereof without departing from the true scope of the invention defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A shuttleless loom comprising: means for storing a plurality of bullets each having a thorough axial bore; means for positioning one bullet after another at one side of a shed forming area; means for providing a first and a second blast of air; means associated with the air blast providing means for projecting a predetermined length of weft thread forwardly through the axial bore of the bullet by the first blast of air so that a portion of the projected weft thread remains inserted through the axial bore of the bullet; means disposed between the weft thread projecting means and the one side of the shed forming area for temporarily storing the weft thread that has been projected through the axial bore of the bullet by' the first blast of air; means associated with the air blast providing means for shooting the bullet through the shed forming area by the second blast of air, thereby causing the weft thread to be carried by the bullet through the shed forming area, in sliding frictional contact with the bullet; and means for positioning the weft thread storing means in the path of the weft thread before it is projected by the first blast of air and removing the storing means out of the path of the bullet before it is shot by the second blast of air.

2. The shuttleless loom as defined in claim 1, wherein the bullet shooting means comprises a pipe having one end open towards the shed forming area; and wherein the weft thread storing means comprises a pipe having first and second open ends and being movable by the lastmentioned positioning means relative to the open end of the shooting pipe so that one open end of the storing pipe is brought into registry with the first open end of the shooting pipe before the weft thread is projected by the first blast of air, and out of the registry before the bullet is shot by the second blast of air.

3. The shuttleless loom as defined in claim 2, further including means for applying suction through the second open end of the storing pipe simultaneously with the first blast of air.

4. The shuttleless loom as defined in claim 2, wherein the movable storing pipe is positioned transversely of the axis of the shooting pipe and has one of its open ends bent towards the open end of the shooting pipe.

5. The shuttless loom as defined in claim 4, wherein the movable storing pipe includes a movable section and a stationary section, the movable section being telescopically and slidably inserted within the stationary section.

6. The shuttleless loom as defined in claim 5, further including means connected to the other stationary section for applying suction through the movable and stationary sections of the storing pipe simultaneously with the first blast of air.

7. The shuttleless loom as defined in claim 1, wherein the bullet shooting means comprises a pipe having one end open towards the shed forming area; and wherein the weft thread storing means comprises a net movable by the last-mentioned positioning means relative to the open end of the shooting pipe so that the net is brought into a position to cover the open end of the shooting pipe before the weft thread is projected by the first blast of air, and out of the position so as to uncover the same before the bullet is shot by the second blast of air.

8. T he shuttleless loom as defined in claim 7, wherein the last-mentioned positioning means includes a sector on which the storing net is provided.

9. The shuttleless loom as defined in claim 8, wherein the sector is arranged for rotation about an axis.

10. The shuttleless loom as defined in claim 8, wherein the sector is arranged for rocking movement on an axis.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,770,261 11/1956 Turner 139-126 2,902,058 9/1959 Walton 139-126 3,256,914 6/1966 Hortmann I 139224 FOREIGN PATENTS 623,735 5/1949 Great Britain. 199,995 1/1965 Sweden.

HENRY S. IAUDON, Primary Examiner. 

